Restaurant Hélicoptère — Restaurant in Montreal

Service: A1! We had an amazing service, super friendly and very attentive: Water was always filled up, plates and utensils were swap after every single plate.

Atmosphere: Some what "homey" yet still chic, had a very charming aesthetic.

Food: I had the tasting menu which was 75$ per person, it was worth every dollar, highly recommended! (menu changes often based on season, month, and ingredient's availability)

Part 1 of the tasting menu

Unlimited Sourdough bread with butter: 10/10 (Very good homemade bread, can't complain about unlimited bread!)

Tuna Tataki with Melon, Tomato, Jalapeno and Shiso: 6.5/10 (unfortunately the only dish that was underwhelming to my taste, refreshing tho)

Beef tartare, eggplant, green beans, marjoram, basil, parmesan: 10/10 (Delicious! full of flavor, great balance, execution and seasoning)

Pan fried oyster mushrooms with smoked feta, shallot, bread crumbs: 9.5/10 (Delicious! Mushroom had a nice lard flavor to it and the smokiness of the feta really paired well together. Another dish that was well executed and well seasoned. Honestly, the bread crumbs was a nice texture additive, but the bread soaked all the oil which made the dish a bit heavier than it already is. Perhaps in a smaller quantity or simply omitted would have been better.

Part 2 of the tasting menu

Artic char fish confit with slight grill, squash, miso, capers and elder berries: 7.5/10 (The fish was cooked flawlessly, execution, flavor, texture were all there, however I feel like everything that came along with the fish did not complement nor enhanced the fish. As a whole dish, I felt like it missed the mark.)

Beats, peach, vadouvan and labneh: 9/10 (Very unique dish, which had a nice mix between refreshing and sweet and creamy and spiced, great contrasting flavor profile that complimented each other. It is served at the same time as the Artic char fish, the sweetness, tanginess and spice help elevate and bring forward the gentle herby flavor profile of the Artic char fish).

Part 3 of the tasting menu

Lamb made 2 way - pulled lamb and pressed for crust and grilled and sliced. Squash, hazel nuts, Groundcherry, fir tree, served with sherry jus. 9.5/10 (The lamb were cooked perfectly, nice and tender, not gammy at all! The sherry jus was packed with umami, the squash was amazing, and the groundcherry added a nice tangy sweetness to the dish. Fantastic dish! It would have been perfect if the dish was not as sweet, however the broccolini served along with the dish balanced the overall of the serving).

Broccolini, nasturtium, shallot, garlic, and leek. 10/10 (Great side dish with the Lamb, full of fresh and herbal flavor to complement the main dish).

Part 4 of the tasting menu

Pre-Dessert: Financier cake with homemade jam and grated cheese. 9.5/10 (Very tasty bite, balanced sweetness, fantastic texture on the pastry, the cheese added a good complexity to the flavor, but the smell it emitted was a bit too pungent for a dessert).

Dessert: Cheese cake on top of graham cracker crust, raspberry water with sorrel oil, fresh raspberry, celery bits, sorrel leaf, and dried flower raspberry sorbet. 10/10 (The best dessert I ever had in my life, I could have 10 serving of it without getting sick of it. It was refreshing, delicate, light, well balanced, a mature sweetness. A symphony of flavor and texture! Perfection.)

Highly...

I came here with some friends recently and enjoyed a great meal filled with food made by a clearly talented chef. While the dishes were on the smaller side, as is usually the case with French/fine cuisine, each dish packed a punch of flavors leaving me curious for more. We tried the tasting menu as this was our first time, it provided a great array of different dishes and we were definitely looking to come back and try some of the other dishes. The black cod, the duck and the mushroom dish were my favorites.

I removed one star because of the service. Our reservation was at 9, so probably one of the last services of the evening. When the waiter took our order, he informed us that two us the items from the tasting menu were sold out and that they would substitute it with other things. I asked if I could order the tasting menu in addition to other dishes and he really stood his ground in saying that the tasting menu was a lot and ordering more was ambitious. He did mention that if we were still hungry agrees that we could simply order more. Low and behold, when the last course before desert came, we were still hungry and still very curious to try what else the menu had to offer. We asked to get the menu and the waiter seemed a bit struck. He asked us to wait while he asked the chef if the kitchen was still open and returned shortly to tell us that if we placed the orders now, they could be fulfilled. But now, what happened was that a lot more of the menu was sold out. In the end, 6 menu items were not available. So while this was not exactly the waiters fault (but I guess he could have listened to our original order and not tell me that I'm ambitious if wanted more than the tasting menu), I don't understand why the restaurant would take reservations at a time where by the middle of the meal, half the menu items would run out. It just felt like we got screwed by getting a late reservation. For such a restaurant of high estime, every seating should be serviced at the same caliber.

I digress. The food was good and I was happy I got...

I was highly recommended this restaurant for brunch by a friend of mine. We were unfortunately very unimpressed with many aspects of the experience: concept, food and service.

Our poor experience started right at the door. We asked to be seated on the terrasse of their sister coffee shop (same name, owner, just two different doors) and we were informed that they did not serve brunch there. So we were seated in the back end of the restaurant, in the dark instead of near the windows... we had asked to be seated outside after all (the restaurant was empty, first to arrive).

Then we were informed that we could older from the food and drink menu of the sister coffee shop as well as items that are just for the restaurant area... but wait!?! You don't do brunch on the terrasse but you serve menu items of the coffee shop in the restaurant? Strange...

Looking at the menu, we thought there was a lot of potential... but everything was OK at best. A lot of the food didn't taste fresh. For example, everything that had a cake like texture (cake, biscuit, crumble, etc) felt old and tasted like it caught the humidity from the fridge or food that was one it. Almost like some things were prepared the night before.

Some meals were over seasoned, some didn't taste anything. The poached eggs were over cooked. There was not one item that hit the mark. We had a comment on how to greatly improve every one of them.

And finally the service was super awkward. Here you are being served a 3 course breakfast with complexe menu items, but without any presentation or explanation... How are we supposed to be inspired by the food if I don't know how much care and attention to details was put...